October 10, 2006 Talking Points

From the Office of University Communications

Next Communicators Lunch Meeting will be noon-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, at KU Endowment.

Professor of journalism and former dean Jimmy Gentry, a national expert on media trends, will talk to us about how media are repositioning to stay on top of Internet trends and connected to consumers. The title of his remarks: "The Business of the News Business: It's Changing Right Before Your Eyes."

If you've been looking for a briefing on Internet media trends such as social networking (MySpace, Facebook, Buzzoven.com, etc), citizen journalism, blogging, vlogging and YouTube, Gentry's presentation is a don't-miss.

You'll receive an RSVP invitation for the lunch this week.

Recent accomplishments. University Relations recently finished a "pocket card" noting recent KU accomplishments, which you may find of interest. The card (produced on thick card stock, trimmed 4.25" x 11") was distributed at the KU Endowment Trustees meeting and a gathering of Greater Kansas City development officials last week. We'll also include it in a packet of materials for a Kansas Editors Preview event this Friday afternoon.

Editors Preview Friday, Oct. 13. About two dozen editors and publishers are taking us up on an opportunity to see the research expansion on West Campus and to hear brief updates about the cancer center initiative and multidisciplinary, engineering, and obesity research. At a dinner Friday night, the editors will get a chance to hear from Chancellor Hemenway, Provost Lariviere, and Medical Center EVC Barbara Atkinson.

We offered the event as a preview to the 2006 Kansas Editors Day, which will take place at 8:30 Saturday morning in Budig Hall. Reporter Jim Sheeler and photographer Todd Heisler, who won Pulitzer Prizes for their chronicle of a Marine major delivering death notices to families of fallen soldiers, will be the featured speakers. Susanne Shaw, professor of journalism, has extended a special invitation to KU communicators and their guests to attend the presentation.

KU phone directories. The 2006-07 KU phone directories have arrived and deliveries have begun.

Accuracy is very important to all of us. If you learn of any errors or recommended changes, please report them.

• If the error is in the Administrative Offices section (front, white pages – Lawrence offices): Email the correction to kurelations@ku.edu with "Correction to phonebook" in the subject line.
• If the error is in the Faculty/Staff section (blue-bar pages – faculty and staff): Call Human Resources at 4-4946.
• If the error is in the student section (all campuses): Submit a written correction to the University Registrar, Window 1, Strong Hall.
• If the error is in the Medical Center section, notify your department's directory representative, using the e-mail address on the department's directory page information within the KUMC Online Telephone & E-Mail Directory.

Extras. University Relations has extras of the special 12-page KU Community Calendar insert in the Lawrence Journal-World. The insert covers KU events from October through December. If you could use any, please call Julie Wolf at 864-8872.

Monitoring web hits in September. Website tracking software gives us a snapshot of the number of unique visitors to several key KU websites, the average duration of their visits, and other information. A look at September stats for www.news.ku.edu shows that 52,054 unique visitors clicked on KU news stories in September. That qualifies as the second highest number of unique visitors to the KU news site since we started monitoring it last fall. The record was set in March 2006, with 75,244 unique visitors, thanks largely to coverage of the microburst storm.

One of the sobering facts we observe every month: people do not linger very long on web pages. About 84 percent of the "views" of news stories last 30 seconds or less. It's proof of the need to "write tight and bright."

The most-read news story in September was the announcement that alum Alan Mulally was named president and CEO of Ford Motor Company.

Onhold.ku.edu website is now operational and taking orders for special KU customized on-hold music for digital campus phones. There is no charge for this service. Be sure to forward feedback to Todd Cohen.

Answering the call. Audio-Reader Network, KU's radio-reading service for the blind, has more than 250 volunteers who record newspapers, magazine, books, newsletters and other printed materials. Some broadcasts are live but most are recorded. Volunteers generally can choose the type of program they'd like to read. Volunteer hours are highly flexible. Contact Jen Nigro, volunteer coordinator, at 4-4604, for more information.

Calendar check. Margey Frederick, director of Special Events and Visitors Services, gives this initial update on event dates for 2007:

• KU in the Capitol: March 15
• Wheat State Whirlwind: May 21-25
• State Fair: Sept. 7-16,
• Family Weekend: Sept. 14-16
• Homecoming: Nov. 3

Update the ranking quotes. In the past six weeks, several of the perennial college rankings -- The Fiske Guide, U.S. News and Princeton Review -- have published their new editions. In case you missed it:

• The Fiske Guide put KU on its list of the 14 best buys in US public higher education. If you'd like a pdf of the Fiske narrative on KU, email Lynn Bretz.
• U.S. News ranked KU 39th among the nation's top 162 national public universities.
• KU is a "college with a conscience," according to the Princeton Review's recent publication 361 Best Colleges. It places KU among the top 81 schools in the nation when it comes to service-learning programs and blending academics with community service. If you'd like a copy of the Princeton Review narrative on KU, email Jackie Hosey.

The press releases:

• Fiske and U.S. News were covered in one press release: "Top college guides name KU as one the country's best public universities"
• "Princeton Review praises KU for its ability to blend academics and community service"

The new KU PowerPoint template is online.

You'll find links to the template page at the Visual Identity website as well as under the "Marketing" section of "Resources for Communicators."

Communicators Web site. Our fledgling website is up.

It's a work in progress with more information and other tweaks to be added this week. Give us your feedback.

Calling all communicators. Submit news or updates for the next Talking Points memo to Lynn Bretz.

COMINGS & GOINGS

Erin Curtis-Dierks, who is on maternity leave until Oct. 31, and her husband, Andy, are the proud parents of a boy, August "Gus" David Dierks.

Fred Ervin is the new media relations coordinator for University Relations at the KU School of Medicine-Wichita. He replaces John Gedraitis, who retired in August after 17 years with KU. Ervin serves as editor of the newsletter Monitor. He began his position Sept. 5. He previously owned Ervin and Associates, a communications and media-related service. Before running his own firm, Ervin served as public relations director for Sedgwick County for more than 10 years.